Sunzi was a native of the Qi (Ch’i) state who
worked as a military adviser of the kingdom ofWu
ruler, He Lu. Not much is known about Sunzi’s
early life, as there are few existing works containing
only scant biographical information; however, an
anecdote of how he came to the Wu king’s attention
is contained in the work of Sima Qian (Ssu-
Ma Ch’ien), the grand chronicler of pre-Han
China. As the story goes, Sunzi was asked to
demonstrate how he could put his theories of military
organization into practice. Sunzi convinced
the Wu king of his ability when he was able to
transform a cohort of the king’s concubines into
an organized and disciplined drill unit. Scholars
have estimated that this incident probably occurred
not long after He Lu came to the throne.
According to Sima Qian and the Shiji (Shi-chi),
Sunzi most probably died before his patron’s death
in 496 B.C. The last time Sunzi was mentioned was
in connection with his role in assisting He Lu in his
defeat of the Qu (Ch’ü) state in 512 B.C. Sunzi’s
greatest legacy is his composition on military
strategies, titled Ping-fa (The Art of War). In his
translation and commentary on Sunzi’s work, Lionel
Giles praises the author’s genius: “They
[Sunzi’s words] reflect the mind not only of a born
strategist, gifted with a rare faculty of generalisation,
but also of a practical soldier closely acquainted
with the military conditions of his time.”
The Art of War represents the work of an experienced
warrior. This has led to speculation that
Sunzi began to write this work close to the end of
his career when He Lu’s military adviser. The work
contains 13 chapters, each one examining a particular
military topic or strategy. The Art of War is
not merely a collection of sound and effective military
plans and strategies; it is also a historical text
that describes the events and personalities of
Sunzi’s lifetime. In two passages, for example,
Sunzi refers to the size of the armies of the Wu
kingdom and its adversaries, the Yueh.
Sunzi’s work attained recognition and status
from not only his contemporaries but also later
generations of famous generals and warriors.Military
leaders, including Han Xin (Han Hsin) and
Yue Fei (Yueh Fei), learned much from The Art of
War and acknowledged their debt to it. Even purely
literary men such as SU SHI’s father, Su Xun, paid
compliments to the great strategist.
The scholar Zheng Hou (Cheng Hou) also
praised Sunzi in this extract contained in Impartial
Judgements in the Garden of Literature:
Sun Tzu’s 13 chapters are not only the staple
and base of all military men’s training, but also
compel the most careful attention of scholars
and men of letters. His sayings are terse yet elegant,
simple yet profound, perspicuous and
eminently practical. Such works as the Lun Yu,
the I Ching and the great Commentary, as well
as the writings of Mencius, Hsun Kuang and
Yang Chu, all fall below the level of Sun Tzu.
Sunzi’s work continues to influence presentday
society, in both military and commercial matters.
Modern writers have tried to adapt Sunzi’s
ingenious cunning to the new competitive age of
commerce and international business. Examples
include Mark McNeilly’s work Sun Tzu and the Art
of Business: Six Strategic Principles for Managers
and Check Teck Foo and Peter Grinyer’s book Organizing
Strategy: Sun Tzu’s Business Warcraft.
An English Version of a Work by Sunzi
The Art ofWar. Translated by Lionel Giles. Singapore:
Graham Brash, 1988.
Works about Sunzi
Foo, Check Teck and Peter Grinyer. Organizing Strategy:
Sun Tzu’s Business Warcraft. Boston and Singapore:
B-H. Asia, 1994.
McNeilly, Mark. Sun Tzu and the Art of Business: Six
Strategic Principles for Managers. Washington,
D.C.: National Defense University Press, 1997.
———. Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare. Oxford
and New York:Oxford University Press, 2001.
Zi Chang Tang.Principles of Conflict: Recompilation and
New English Translation with Annotation on Sunzi’s
Art ofWar. San Rafael, Calif.: T. C. Press, 1969.